Programme Officer - Education and Skills Development

The Programme Officer provides strategic, technical, and operational support for the implementation of continental education and TVET strategies, focusing on policy harmonization, Member State support, programme development, partnership coordination, and results-based management of education and skills development initiatives across Africa.

Responsibilities

• Support the implementation of Continental Education Strategy for Africa and the Continental TVET Strategy, including roadmaps, action plans, and flagship initiatives.
• Provide technical advisory services to AU leadership, Member States, and RECs on education, TVET, and skills development policies and systems reforms.
• Coordinate continental clusters and technical working groups on TVET, higher education, and skills development.
• Drive the promotion of work-based learning, cooperative training, and industry-led curriculum development to ensure TVET outputs align with private sector demands.
• Support policy harmonisation, quality assurance, and qualifications frameworks at continental and regional levels.
• Support translation of continental strategies into investable national and regional programmes and projects.
• Support project development with partners and development finance institutions.
• Coordinate multi-stakeholder partnerships with development partners, RECs, private sector, and technical agencies.
• Provide technical support in monitoring, evaluation, reporting, and results-based management of education and skills programmes.
• Support high-level policy dialogue, ministerial processes, and heads of state convenings on education and skills development.
• Contribute to knowledge management, policy communication, and advocacy related to education and skills development.
• Champion Outcome-Based Education and Training modalities across Member States.
• Prepare programme plans, budgets, progress reports, and management briefs.
• Ensure systematic monitoring of programme performance, risks, and results using AU tools.
• Contribute to development, review, and updating of continental policy frameworks and guidelines.
• Coordinate technical assistance to Member States for national and regional programme translation.
• Support design and formulation of programme and project proposals.
• Support Member States in designing regional TVET integration projects and Centers of Excellence.
• Support coordination with development partners, technical agencies, RECs, private sector, and other stakeholders.
• Contribute to management of joint programmes and partnership agreements.
• Facilitate technical meetings and coordination platforms.
• Support organization of high-level events and continental policy dialogues.
• Contribute to policy advocacy, strategic communication, and stakeholder engagement.
• Oversee preparation of policy briefs, technical notes, speeches, communiqués, and official reports.
• Support visibility and communication campaigns for continental education and skills initiatives.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in education, Comparative Education, Management of Vocational Education, or a closely related technical field, with at least 7 years’ relevant experience; with 3 years at Expert Level
• Bachelor’s degree with 10 years progressive experience in education and skills development with 3 years at expert level
• Progressive experience in education and skills development policy, programme management, or technical advisory services at national, regional, or international level.
• Demonstrated experience in programme planning, implementation, monitoring, and reporting using results-based management approaches.
• Experience supporting policy harmonisation, quality assurance, or qualifications frameworks is an asset.
• Experience working with governments, regional organisations, and international development partners.
• Proven ability to support multi-stakeholder coordination and high-level policy processes.
• Demonstrated experience in TVET systems reform, specifically in occupational standards development, outcome-based training, and quality assurance/assessment frameworks.
• Strong analytical and strategic planning skills.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Strong coordination, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver results in a dynamic environment.
• Proficiency in standard office tools and advanced data analysis skills for monitoring and reporting in TVET.
• Proficiency in one of the AU working languages (Arabic, English, French, Kiswahili, Portuguese, and Spanish) is mandatory and fluency in another AU language is an added advantage.

Skills

• Educational Policy Development
• Skills Development
• Programme Management
• Technical Advisory
• Result-Based Management
• Policy Harmonisation
• Quality Assurance
• Qualifications Frameworks
• Government Relations
• Regional Organisation Coordination
• International Development Partnership
• Stakeholder Coordination
• High-Level Policy Processes
• TVET Systems Reform
• Occupational Standards Development
• Outcome-Based Training
• Quality Assurance Frameworks
• Strategic Planning
• Data Analysis
• Monitoring and Reporting
• Negotiation
• Stakeholder Management
• Office Tools

Languages

English